A GROWING number of Singaporeans are making the difficult decision not to be put on life support when the end comes.
By last December, about 15,000 had signed up for 'living wills', which aim to minimise suffering by instructing doctors not to use artificial means, such as respirators, to keep them alive. This is a steady increase from the 10,100 Advance Medical Directives (AMDs) made by 2008.
The rise may be due to an increased awareness of living wills, said Dr Lam Pin Min, chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health.
Mr J. Lee made a living will eight years ago after deciding he would like to die with the minimum of suffering. He went to his doctor to sign up, after reading about AMDs in the newspapers.
-- ST